This fence is so random. And awesome. It’s located in Chinatown across the street from Chinatown Coffee.
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Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, DJ, and collector of stories. He launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. You can follow People’s District on Twitter @PeoplesDistrict, and can read his previous columns here.
“Being a marijuana lobbyist is definitely the coolest job that you can have. It always makes for good conversation at a cocktail party and tends to be more interesting than the folks who work at any given corporate lobbying firm. I love every minute of what I do and really think it is the Lord’s work. Everyday, I work to keep people out of jail for a substance that is less harmful than alcohol, yet we still waste our nation’s blood and treasure waging a failed war on drugs.
“I got into this after working as a Democratic campaign operative in Colorado. During the 2002 election cycle, I was part of a winning campaign, but I didn’t care to work for candidates anymore. I wanted to work on issues that I really cared about, so I came to D.C. to work with the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) in March 2003. I had some personal experience with recreational marijuana use and also was around people who saw positive effects from medical marijuana, I just couldn’t get over the fact that it was illegal. It seemed so stupid to me.
“Before doing this, I never really talked with my buddies in politics about my thoughts on marijuana because I didn’t think that anyone agreed with me. Now, one of the remarkable things about being a marijuana lobbyist is like a priest, people come and confess their marijuana use to me. This job gives me such perspective into how many people have had experiences with marijuana and how much of a failure our laws really are.
Continues after the jump. (more…)
I’m starting to freak out a bit…
“Dear PoP,
Just want to let you know that my friends’ car was broken into on Christmas Eve around 9:30pm at Randolph St and 8th St. NW. As soon as it happened, they heard the alarm and ran outside but whoever did it had already left. My neighbor was outside and I had told him what happened and he proceeded to admonish me for telling them to park on
Randolph. He said that he had recently had his car broken into as well on the same corner. Apparently it’s a happenin’ spot for dudes looking for an easy break-in-and-out. Thanks!”
Photo by PoPville flickr user urban sherpa
“Dear PoP,
I normally park my car on Florida between 11th and 13th St, NW (right at the edge of the high school), but after reading about break ins there last week, I’ve been parking it overnight in the actual HS lot (generally if you move it by 7:30 or so, no one gives you any trouble). I thought this would be safer, but it seems it just delayed the inevitable. Although there was absolutely nothing visible or worth stealing in the car, my back window was broken into sometime between 11pm and 7am. They went through my car and trunk and didn’t take a thing. The worse part was that a cop car was parked across the street most of the night…but no cop to be found.
It seems no matter how empty your car is or where it is parked around there, it won’t be safe. What a great early Christmas present!”
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Sorry to hear about this.
From MPD:
“RE: Attack/Robbery at 10th and Girard NE (Monday around 1930 hours)
The complainant was walking northbound when she was grabbed from behind by the suspect. The suspect then produced a taser gun and proceeded to taser the complainant about the face and upper body as the second suspect took her purse. Both suspects fled on Franklin St NE.”
From MPD listserv:
“I was walking between 4th and 5th on T St NW [in LeDroit Park] at three this afternoon [Tues.] when a young black man crossed the street towards me with a handgun and told me to empty my pockets. He was wearing a red parka and was accompanied by a second young black man in a black coat. I immediately ran and wasn`t chased. I called the MPD when I got to Florida Ave and two cars met me at Georgia and Florida to take my statement. I rode with one officer as they canvassed the neighborhood for a few minutes, then gave a statement to a detective. The officer I rode with gave me his card and my case number. When I left the officers hadn`t found anyone.
There was a second robbery at 2nd and T St. NW at almost the same time which the officers were talking about, but I don`t know if they were connected.”
I’m not sure it’s the smartest idea to run from someone with a gun pointed at you but I’m glad this individual was ok.
Photo by PoPville flickr user jthorpephoto.com
At least “Skateboard P” has been taken off the streets…
“Today [Tues.] at approximately twelve noon, the Fifth District Burglary Tactical unit arrested Allen Brown aka “Skateboard P” for a Burglary he committed in the 3500 block of South Dakota Avenue NE on 10/13/10. Mr. Brown was chased by officers on October 13, 2010 after being suspected of committing the burglary but made good his escape. Further investigation by the Tactical Unit and Fifth District Detectives further connected Mr. Brown to the South Dakota Avenue Burglary and an additional Burglary off the Rhode Island Avenue corridor. Detectives were able to obtain an arrest warrant leading to today’s arrest by the tac unit.”
I’ve been meaning to post this for weeks but forgot I had it on my phone. Anyway, this is a replica of a friend’s row house near H St, NE. The party was celebrating the 130 year birthday of the house. Way too cool.
Photo by PoPville flickr user ekelly80
“Dear PoP,
I have to say, I, like everyone in DC am “Freaking out” about the first snow in DC, you know with snowball fights and cops brandishing guns and all…. but really, do we know what ever happened to the cop that “showed us” his gun during the first snowball fight near the Reeves center last year? Does anyone know?”
Wow, I totally forgot about that. I think he was suspended for a couple of weeks but is back on the force. Can anyone confirm that?
Photo by PoPville flickr user Jess J
“Dear PoP,
This morning I witnessed a random act of kindness that you just don’t see enough of in this city. As I was entering the U Street metro station, I noticed two men running at me full speed. Then I realized one person was chasing the other. Next thing I knew, the chaser actually caught the chasee on the escalator, jumped on him, and got back whatever the person had stolen. At this point it dawned on me that it was probably an iPhone, given the recent increase in thefts of these devices over the past few months. Now, I figured it must have been the guy’s phone that was stolen. But as he turned around to come back into the metro station with the reclaimed device, the guy handed it back to a girl. She was completely shocked and obviously very thankful. This was a true act of kindness, for a complete stranger.
It is good to know that there are some decent people left in this world, and I was hoping that maybe if I wrote to you we could give this guy some kind of recognition for his actions. Also, the iPhone theft increase is no joke.”
While I don’t like hearing about the crimes, stories like this always amaze me. Much respect to the good Samaritan!
Though this one def. speaks to me…
